Protests planned after San Francisco police beat up community residents

An image grab taken from You Tube video uploaded on November 18, 2013 by user@Rasta Dave

San Francisco police have been accused of using excessive force in a bloody incident that escalated after officers allegedly beat a man for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.

Video footage of the event has also surfaced showing multiple
arrests, including one that occurred after a plainclothes officer
confronted a man and began fighting with him. The man is soon
arrested and led to a police car with a bloodied face.

The incident at the Valencia Gardens apartments began when
20-year-old D’Paris “DJ” Williams was told by police to stop
riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. Both Williams’ family and law
enforcement agree that Williams did not listen to the officers’
commands, but the family said it was because Williams was
listening to music and did not hear what police said.

Williams kept riding, and officers detained him as he tried to
enter his apartment. Police said he resisted arrest after
refusing to comply with their orders. Williams was forced to the
ground when his sister, Christina, says that police used
excessive force on a man that was just trying to get into his
house.

“One choking him, one pinned all his weight on him, leaning on
him and the lady over there trying to put the handcuffs on
him,” she told the local KPIX station. “And he started
beating on him for no reason.”

At this point, multiple residents came outside and the situation
escalated. According to police officer Gordon Shy’s account to
the San Francisco Examiner, “multiple subjects came out of the
home and created a hostile situation for the officers.”

The video footage posted to YouTube mostly captures the tail end
of this incident, when one man has already been brought to the
ground and another, later identified as 25-year-old Orlando
Rodriguez, is confronted by the plainclothes officer in a
baseball cap.

The video has sparked accusations of police brutality, but police
say the officers used reasonable force against those who resisted
arrest. Police told the Examiner that two of the three officers
who approached Williams about his bike had their badges displayed
and added that officers came under attack when the confrontation
escalated.

According to Shy, one officer was nearly hit with a cane while
another was bitten. Two were transported to the hospital to be
treated for injuries.

“If an officer feels that he, she or another officer are under
the threat of physical violence, then they have the right to
defend that officer, which was what the officer was trying to
do,” Shyy told the Examiner.

Travis Jensen, the man who took the YouTube video and who's also
a friend of Williams’ cousin, said the situation would not have
gotten worse if people didn’t feel the police were abusing their
power.

“Clearly something not right is happening here,” Jensen
said to KPIX. “People don’t get that upset for no reason. They
were upset because they were seeing DJ getting beaten.”

Williams was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police
officer, resisting arrest, and riding his bike on the sidewalk.
Rodriguez was cited for misdemeanor resisting arrest and
released. Two others were also arrested – 22-year-old Antoine
Bradford for assault and battery of a police officer, and
24-year-old Masai Bradford, Jr. for outstanding warrants.

Williams and Antoine Bradford have both been released and their
cases discharged, pending further investigation.

The Williams family is holding a protest at Valencia Gardens at 5
p.m. on Tuesday, for what they call “Justice for D’Paris Williams
and all victims of police brutality.”